—Ecobank, the Pan African Bank, and its Group Chief Executive Officer Arnold Ekpe won major awards here tonight at the Africa Investor-UNIDO Investment Awards. Ecobank won the award for 'Bank of the Year' while Ekpe emerged as 'African Business Leader of the Year.'
The Africa Investor-UNIDO awards recognize private sector achievements across a wide range of industries and disciplines, and seek to promote the development of Africa's investment community. Tonight's gala ceremony took place in tandem with a meeting of African Ministers of Industry and representatives from private companies operating in Africa, who had gathered to debate practical solutions to sector-specific challenges on the continent.
Ekpe won the African Business Leader of the Year award for his exemplary leadership of the Ecobank Group, as the organization prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Richard Uku, Head of Corporate Communications for the Ecobank Group, accepted the individual award on behalf of Ekpe. Conveying a message of appreciation from him, he quoted, "receiving this award for African Business Leader of the Year is a distinguished honour, which I accept with humility on behalf of the extraordinary women and men of Ecobank—some 10,000 true professionals across the 25 countries in Africa where we operate. It is their dedication and hard work that provides such an excellent platform for good leadership, and I recognize them in receiving this award."
Pierre Siewe, Ecobank Deputy Representative in South Africa and Charity Lumpa, Managing Director of Ecobank Zambia Limited, joined Uku to receive the Bank of the Year award on behalf of the company's 10,000 strong staff. "This is gratifying. We consider this award as a testament to our continued commitment to build a world class bank and to keep contributing to the economic and financial development of Africa" Uku told journalists.
Other nominees in the Bank of the Year category were Oceanic Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, BMCE, Standard Bank and Zenith Bank Plc. The other nominees for African Business Leader of the Year were Brian Molefe, Patrice Motsepe, Jim Ovia, Raymond C. Obieri and Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi.
About ECOBANK (www.ecobank.com)
Incorporated in 1985, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) is the parent company of the leading independent regional banking group in Africa. It currently operates in 25 African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo. ETI is listed on the stock exchanges in Lagos, Accra and Abidjan (BRVM). The Group is owned by over 7000 shareholders including institutional investors. It has over 10,000 employees in over 500 branches. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.
